INTERVIEW-Alcatel Lucent sees India, China 4G coming s

Published August 1, 2011

Reuters

(Corrects spelling of name to Singh-Molares throughout)

TIANJIN, China, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Telecoms equipmentmaker Alcatel Lucent said some telecoms carriers in China andIndia could put out bids for building of 4G trial networks asearly as year-end, as they rush to upgrade existing networks orget into the wireless business.

China Mobile, the world's largest carrier by subscribers,has been letting some of the world's top equipment sellers,including the French-U.S. firm, show off their 4G capabilitiesat the Shanghai Expo that began in May and runs through the endof October.

"The calendar is we hope by year-end the trial networkswill be announced, and partners selected and trials willstart," Rajeev Singh-Molares, Asia Pacific president of AlcatelLucent, told Reuters in an interview at the World EconomicForum on Monday.

"It's fair to say they've been in discussions with us.Everyone knows this trial is coming," he said.

At least two carriers in India, which only recently awardedlicenses for 4G, also known as LTE, were also movingaggressively in the 4G space, he added.

One of those, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, is eagerto get into the industry to compete with established players,including Reliance Communications, headed by his brother, Anil.

"Initially, (4G) trials could start in India much faster,possibly by year end," Singh-Molares said.

He added a number of carriers lookin at 4G are seriouslyconsidering TD-LTE, one of several variants of 4G beingdeveloped and promoted by China Mobile.

In particular, he said, companies that operate networksbased on a high-speed wireless technology called WiMax would bemost suitable for the Chinese homegrown standard, which Chinais actively promoting as it tries to gain a place alongsidemore widely accepted standards developed in the United Statesand Europe.

"(The Indian carriers) are certainly actively consideringTD-LTE," he said. "Anyone that has deployed WiMax and wants togo to LTE would consider that ... a number of customers inJapan, Indonesia and even the U.S."

Separately, Singh-Molares said India was currently inpublic consultation with telecoms equipment makers over draftnew rules designed to ease Delhi's concerns over networksecurity. The equipment makers worry that the rules as firstintroduced would be difficult for them to implement, and arehoping to reach a middle ground with the government.